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The honor of being our first featured Cosplayer of the Month for 2017 goes to Annakapat Cosplay! Anré has been cosplaying since 2009 and she is well known as the quint essential Harley Quinn, but lately she’s been spreading her cosplay wings beyond that of the DC Bombshell and we’ve been seeing awesome costumes from her. Let’s see what makes her tick and find out more about her love for cosplay….

Hey Anré! Tell us a bit more about the person behind the cosplay persona?

Hi! I am Anré. I am 23, currently have blue hair,

I studied Information Design and up until recently, I was working as an assistant at Arwen Garmentry.

How and when did you get started in Cosplay and why do you enjoy it?

I love creating, and I love costumes, cosplay was an obvious choice of hobby. I first started at rAge 2009

We have been raving about your Jareth cosplay since you won all those awards at rAge Expo 2016. Please tell us a bit more about what inspired you to make the costume and what you learnt from the process

Labyrinth is my all-time favourite movie. The costume design of the film was something that stayed with me all my life. I wanted to challenge myself into doing a cosplay that would force me to expand my skill set. So Jareth was it. So. Much. Detail.

Do you have any hobbies or interests outside of cosplaying?

I love drawing, reading, motorcycling as well as sing quite loudly to my cat while he stares, perplexed.

What was the first Costume you wore for Cosplay and did you make it yourself?

Tank Girl at rAge 2009. It was mostly made from the things I had in my closet.
What was cosplay even?

What type of genre is your favorite to Cosplay, and why?

I love cosplaying from films, as I know they can be done, if that makes sense.

Every Cosplayer has a favourite part of creating a costume or something they are really good at, what is yours?

I love the planning and the wearing. The making is a process of sweat blood and tears but I love making patterns

What is your most difficult challenge in creating a costume?

I get bored easily. So I try to stay busy by working in more than one cosplay at a time.

We all know that cosplay has been become a very expensive hobby these days, do you have hints or tips for other cosplayers as far as cutting down expenses etc. are concerned?

Hah! I am not the person to ask about this! I just spent R2000 on one part of my Doctor Strange cloak. I take my time and save up, which is why I am so slow on production. The best advice I can give is to make sure you do roughs of your cosplay, to avoid cutting expensive fabrics and wasting them.

Tell us about your most epic fail ever whilst creating a costume

There are no such things as failures, just learning bumps. However, I did once touch wet expanding foam and ended up with reptile skin for a week.

Which character do you consider to be your Holy Grail of cosplays (the one cosplay that you’ve been wanting to do since forever)?

It was Jareth ? I am staring at the empty void of not knowing what to do with my life.

What is the one thing that you try and avoid when making a new costume?

Overlocking when it is necessary. (Runs to a corner and hisses)

South Africa’s convention scene has been growing leaps and bounds over the last couple of years. Where do you see opportunities for cosplay to grow at local events?

We just need to keep making it bigger, keep improving our own work and the rest of the opportunities will follow.

Costume crafting can be really hard sometimes, right? Do you have any scars from cosplay related injuries and how did you get them?

Pictures were supplied to GES-SA by the featured Cosplayer. We do not own these pictures so if you do, and you would like to us to add the credit please drop us a mail to linda@ges-sa.com

About Linda Jager

I’m proudly Geek and have a passion for all things pop-culture. Huge fan of The Walking Dead. Lover of gadgets and technology and although I’m not a gamer (sadly no hand-eye co-ordination) I find myself drawn to the gaming culture and community and how it connects with one of my biggest passions – collecting action figures and statues. I love to watch movies and series and there’s nothing better than having conversations with other people about the things I feel so passionately about. Being an 80’s child I am a huge fan of retro stuff and my Thundercats collection is one of my most prized possessions. That, and my A-Team van. Follow me on Twitter @LindaAtGES